Element Cost

The price in tokens of every part of the assembled context — including the parts that are not memories.

Why it matters in a memory layer

The framing header on this course's context is 29 tokens — 38% of everything the audit prices, and it is not waste: Beginner measured that without it a model defends stale facts against the user correcting them. Both things are true at once, which is why "does this help?" is the wrong question — everything in a context helps, or it would not be there. The question is what it costs and what it displaces, and at a tight budget this header displaces a dietary restriction. Right-sizing it keeps the framing and returns eighteen tokens.

Connections

Taught in: Does This Earn Its Tokens?

Used in: Personalization Without Creepiness · The Write Path Dominates · Redaction and Minimization · Reflection and Insight · Retrieving Procedures

Do not confuse with: Token Budget